Being from NC and having a Ween avatar is enough to save you this time, young skywalker. Next time you skool me on my writing prowess when inebriated, I will not be so forgiving.

There is a reason no one cared when you got your 100 star.

In reply to this comment by shuac:
Wow, what a poorly-constructed argument. BF, you may have opted out of a few too many essay questions whilst in school. Let me help you out, buddy.

If you make an assertion you should demonstrate it with a preponderance of evidence where possible. You kind of did that with the firmware story (although I'm not sure any rational person would agree that because you had one iPod go wonky on you that Steve Jobs has raped you in the mouth...but whatever). It would have helped this point to have at least one additional story about how an iMac failed you, how your Nano konked out, or how a MacBook Pro had a bunch of dead pixels. You see? Once you establish a pattern of similar experiences, then your claim gains weight.

The customer service complaint wasn't backed up by any story. All you say there is that "as you will notice if you ever buy one of their products, is terrible with not only customer service..." Well, you've got to demonstrate that, m'boy. How is their customer service bad?

A point about structure: your second and third paragraphs basically say the same thing, containing the same points, and one lessens the impact of the other. Each paragraph should argue a single, unique element of the argument. Well-constructed arguments are very economical with their word usage and they rarely repeat themselves other than to sum up.

To sum up: have bucketloads of evidence, back up each assertion presented, and be sure each element of your argument gets its own paragraph.

Here endeth the lesson.

that's downright freaky.
i enter my comment, reload the page, and...
you even picked the same arcane kitchen utensil i did.

In reply to this comment by shuac:
What, was VideoMellonBaller taken?

Congratulations on reaching new heights on VideoSift. You have earned yourself 100 stars, earning you status of Gold-100 Star member. You have been awarded 1 Power Point for achieving this level. Thanks for all your contributions.

Congratulations on reaching new heights on VideoSift. You have earned yourself 79 stars, earning you status of Gold Star member. You have been awarded 1 Power Point for achieving this level. Thanks for all your contributions.

Hello right back at ya...Heywood.

In reply to this comment by shuac:
Hey Pisser.

Just sayin' 'hey.'

Mogadeeba, indeed!

In reply to this comment by shuac:
Well, mogadeeba!

Well that's what happens when I put the whole title in right away...

In reply to this comment by shuac:
No, I'm sorry Zifnab, the correct response was 'timeliness'. Timeliness.

http://www.videosift.com/video/Zero-Punctuation-Review

So what do we have for Zifnab by way of a parting gift?

tee hee!

btw: AWESOME avatar!

One of my alltime favorite bands.

There's nothing really bad about that. Hell, you were watching the government essentially waltzing into people's houses or holding them at gunpoint to take their property. That's pretty powerful stuff and it made me furious when I saw it. I think it is very important though how this was quickly resolved legally, and even followed up later with the Supreme Court overturning the DC gun ban which will make it even more difficult for this type of behavior to occur in the future. Anyway, I don't think there is anything wrong with wanting to own a gun because of this. There *is* something wrong with owning one without knowing how to use it responsibly in my opinion. If you're serious about wanting a gun, and since you said you have never held one before in your life, looking into shooting ranges in your area that let you do some target practice and offer some safety lessons is a good place to start.

In reply to this comment by shuac:
You make good points, Lurch, and I hope you're right.

My original comment (the "which is worse" thing) was less about supporting a ban/tax and more about asking the OP where he stands: subverting the constitution, about which Bush feels he is beyond reproach, or legislating a ban or tax on guns, thus keeping it civil, legal, and most importantly allowing for it to be blocked, civilly and legally. It's a false choice, yes, but then...so is our presidential election. I'm kidding. Sort of.

Jokes aside, watching those vids of New Orleans cops taking guns away from citizens kind of made me want to get a gun. Is that bad?

Yeah, I've thought about that before and I wouldn't call it meaningless. I think if you are talking on a national scale (which is highly fictional), the element of surprise used on Katrina victims would be gone after the first round of confiscations. Also, the amount of force the federal government would have to employ with fully complicit local agencies of all types to perform a nationwide confiscation is a serious deterrant to it ever happening. The risks and problems outweigh any rewards. Once it was known that weapons were being taken, you can bet the general reaction would be much more violent than during Katrina. It would be far easier and more realistic to achieve the same goals by slowly erroding gun rights over time and pushing for legal means to disarm.

Also, I don't see why someone who fears that the government *could* take weapons by force if they wanted to would think it was logical to support bans and unreasonable restrictions. I'm not saying you in particular since you didn't really mention specifics on your position, but it's something I've noticed having this conversation with others. It just seems incongruous to me since this argument of "you couldn't fight back anyway" comes up a lot. To me it is like saying, "I don't think I could stop them from illegally taking my guns if they wanted to, so I'll support laws that make it legal for them to do so." I think if private firearms are going to be taken en masse in this country it will be through slow and calculated legislation "for our own protection," not by force.

In reply to this comment by shuac:
Well, I'm glad for that. And while I'm normally anti-gun and having never once held a gun in all my 40 years, I watched all the footage of the Sheriffs taking people's guns away in sheer horror. The NRA had the chance to litigate this issue afterward only because the worst had not happened.

But imagine for a moment (taking the founding fathers' original intentions of the 2nd amendment and applying them to today's world, something I never thought we'd have to do), that if the time ever comes that we'd need an armed populace for the purpose of defending the Constitution, a job normally done by our elected officials...then the government has proven that all they need to do to prevent that from happening is to merely walk up to that armed populace and literally take their guns away.

It took a hurricane to demonstrate to the powers that be that the 2nd amendment is meaningless. After the "big moment" has passed us by and the population has been disarmed, there will be no court date.

Again, I'm normally anti-NRA so you can imagine my disappointment.

In reply to this comment by Lurch:
>> ^shuac:
Which is worse: 1) making an attempt to legislate a ban/tax on firearms of these kinds which puts it up to be legitimately 'shot down' (hehe) or 2) proclaiming yourself pro-NRA and having your police force take citizens' guns away anyway...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgPR9I4KMNI
Seriously. I'm asking. Which is worse?


Well, the NRA actually took that to court and got all the firearms returned. They're also currently fighting in DC over making sure the government follows through after the ban was overturned. So, in the end, the NRA still prevailed.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081008/ap_on_re_us/katrina_confiscated_guns
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27087738/

yup! loved how they sampled the spaghetti westerns.

In reply to this comment by shuac:
Now yer talkin! Finally, some cinematic taste!

Any Big Audio Dynamite fans out there? If so, you'll understand why I ask.

Well! I'm in the group. Though I usually play in the mornings or rarely sometimes in the evenings. My name there is either this name or some derivative of "Pkunk"

In reply to this comment by shuac:
I agree. I play it nearly every day. I check the VideoSift group from time to time but hardly anyone in the group seems to be playing when I do. Must be a timezone thing. <shrugs>

In reply to this comment by NicoleBee:
A complete nut for it! So easy to get into. And a larger percentage of tolerable multiplayer denizens than I've experienced with other games!

This video is insanity though.

In reply to this comment by shuac:
Boy, you are a fan of TF2, ain't you? I've seen some of those sprays too. "It's Goofy Time!" is my fav.

A complete nut for it! So easy to get into. And a larger percentage of tolerable multiplayer denizens than I've experienced with other games!

This video is insanity though.

In reply to this comment by shuac:
Boy, you are a fan of TF2, ain't you? I've seen some of those sprays too. "It's Goofy Time!" is my fav.

eeyep. justifiably shortlived.
he'll always be shirley to me.

In reply to this comment by shuac:
Oh right, slipped my mind. Robert Hayes, hmmmph. That's right, I said hmmmph.